Fluid conditioning apparatus



l Aug. 19, 1941.

H. w. SCHAEFER FLUID CONDITIONING APPARATUS Fil'ed Nov. 18, 1939y ssheets-sheet 1 veoLo MLU/wr Tr/mfie. i @ma AugQlQ, 1941;

H. W. SCHAEFER FLUID CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Nov.` 18, 1959 I5Sheets-Sheet 2 fffizvr" /neoLa MLA/4H 5cl/4free.,

Aug. 19, 1941.

H. w. scHAEFER FLUID CONDITONING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 18, 1959 ssheets-sheet 5 Patented Aug. 19, 1941 FLUID CONDITIONING APPARATUSHarold William Schaefer, Chicago, Ill., assignor t0 The Harry Alter Co.,Chicago,

ration of Illinois lll., a corpo- Application November 18,'1939, SerialNo. 305,067

(Cl. .2M- 92) 1 Claim.

The present invention relates generally to` duid-conditioning apparatusand is particularly concerned with improvements in humidifying ,a'iidcooling apparatus.

The invention has as a primary object the l provision of improved rotormeans for dispersing a conditioning huid, the rotor being designed toaiTord a greater surface area in a smaller space for evaporation thanhas heretofore been attainable.

A further object o the invention is to provide improved means fordirecting the conditioned medium or air.

An'other objectYof the invention is to provide in apparatus of the typedescribed an improved casing which may be easily disassembled forcleaning and to permit access to the working parts of the apparatus forinspection, replaceembodying the features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view` of the same looking towards thedischarge for fluid which has been conditioned;

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the device showingthe cooperative relationship of the internal parts thereof, takensubstantially on line III-III of Figure 2;

Figure 4` is an enlarged `fragmentary view partly in section and showingdetails of construction i of the evaporator means, the section beingtaken substantially on line IV-IV of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary viewlooking at the discharge end of theapparatus and showing details of construction of the means forcontrolling the direction of the discharged conditioned fluid;

Figure 6 is a detailed view showing one coni struction of the stripsutilized in forming the evaporator means; and

Figure 7 is a similar view showing a slightly dierent construction forthe strips.

As shown on the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, the `apparatus embodies acasing or housing as generally indicated at HJ, thisY housing iii thepresent instance constituting a substantially cubical shell ofsheetmetal, wood, or other suitable material. The casing is of two-partconstruction, being provided with a lower portion II and an upperportion I2, which are respectively provided at their upper and loweredges with joint forming flanges |3 and I4 arranged to be disposed inabutting relation substantially midway between the top and bottom of thecasing. The two sections of the casing `maybe removably secured togetherby. suitable joint overlying straps I5 secured to the joined casingportions by screws I6.

The upper portion ofthe casing is provided at one end with an inletopening II for the admission of a huid such as room air which is to beconditioned. The inlet opening is preferably covered with a protectivescreen I8.

At the opposite end of the casing in substantial alignment with theinlet opening there is provided an outlet opening I9 for the egress ofiiuid after it has been conditioned, `this opening also beingpreferablyprovided with a screen 20.

Adjacent the inlet opening I8, there is provided a `tubular member 2|which is slightly larger in diameter than the inlet opening and issupported in axial alignment therewith from the top of the casing.Supported also from the top of the casing is a suitable bracket 22`which extends inwardly from the member 2| to form a support for adriving motor 23, the motor being thus supported in depending position.A driving shaft 24 of the motor extends into the memberZI and hassecured thereon for rotation therewith a suitable fan 25. It will benoted that the member 2| surrounds the fan and axially extends past theleading `and trailing edges of the fan blades to form an entrance ductfor the fluid entering the inlet opening.

The opposite end of the driving shaft 24 of the motor is preferablyprovided with a driving pulley 26 which is driven at reduced speedthrough suitable speed reducing mechanism 21 which may .be in the formof a worm and gear.

As clearly shown in 'Figure 3, the lowermost section of the casing maybe provided adjacent one end with a partition 28 which cooperates withthe casing to define a liquid reservoir 29 in the lower portion of thecasing for a liquid, in this instance water, to be utilized as a fluidconditioning medium.

The upper margin of the outlet end wall of the casing and the partition28 have transversely extending rail members 30 and 3|, which may be ofangle-bar construction, secured thereto to casing is a wheel 39 whichforms an evaporator element arranged to pick up liquid from thereservoir 29 and carry it into the stream of fluid to be conditioned asit passes from the inlet opening to the outlet opening of the casing..This wheel comprises a hub portion 40 which is preferably of solidconstruction. Disposed around the hub 40 is a peripherally extending rimportion 4I which vis formed by simultaneously spirally winding on thehub an initially` at strip of foraminous material such as a screen 42and a second strip 43.v The latter strip, as shown in Figures 6 and '7,is undulated throughout its length by transversely extendingcorrugations 44.

The undulated strip may have various types of corrugation formedtherein. As shown in Figure 6, the corrugations may be of rounded form,or, as shown in Figure 7l the corrugations may have definitely formededges as shown iat v In windingthe strips on the core, the strips arewound surface-Wise, so that in the completed wheel alternate layers of`corrugated foraminous material will be provided, these layers beinginterspersed by the non-corrugated strips which serve to provideadditional area for evaporation and alsomaintain the corrugated stripfrom assuming nested relation.

The wheel rim dips into the liquid throughout a substantial portion ofthe lowermost part the same time shields the opening against liquid Ybeing thrown out therethrough from the wheel. Moreover, the baffle 48prevents engagement with the evaporator vwheel through the openingv andenables filling of the reservoir while the apparatus is in operation.

Novel means are provided for controlling the direction of the fluidleaving the outlet opening. For this purpose I provide a bar 52 which ispivotally supported at its lowermost end on the casing as shown at 53for vertical swinging movement to a position extending across the.outlet opening or to a depending position in which it is removed fromthe outlet opening. This bar may be latched in the first position bymeans of a suitable latch or retaining member 54 adapted to engage thebar when it is swung to a position across the outlet opening.

The bar 52 serves as a support for a pair of winglike deiiectors 55 and5,6, which are pivotally supported along their innermost adjacent edgeson suitable pivots carried by the bar.

ing. Moreover, by swinging -the' bar downwardly,

the deflectors and bar as a unit may be moved to ineffectual positionand permit undeiiected discharge of the conditioned fluid from the out-A let opening.

of the rim, whereas the uppermost part of the The apparatuskasidescribed above may be readily inspected through the opening 46, andmay readily and easily be disassembled for cleaning, further inspection,or replacement of any of the operative parts therein when desired. Forthis purpose, it is only necessary to open the closure 4'! .and removethe beltA 38 from the pulley 26. The straps I5 are then ldisconnectedrelative to the upper and lower sectionsof vthecasing which may then bereadily separated. In separating the casing sections, it will be notedthat the evaporator with alternate layers of` corrugated y andnon-corrugated foraminous strips, multi- "tion of the casing is providedadjacent its top with an opening 46 which is normally closed by a hingecover 4'I.` This opening isrdisposed adjacent the,peripheral rim of theevaporator wheel and is of sufficient length to also extend over andpermit access to the pulley 26 and belt 3 8 of the driving mechanism.

The opening 46 permits the adding of additional fluid to the reservoir29 when desired, and in order to shield the evaporator wheel Vrelativeto this opening, there is provided :an

arcuate baffle 48 which is laterally 'connected to baille' side walls 49and 5D respectively disposed on the opposite sides of the wheelperiphery.

, parent that the present invention provides an wing bolts, which permitthe bearing caps 35 to be removed so asto release the shaft 34.

From theiforegoing description, it will be apimproved uid conditioningapparatus having a novel rotor designed to afiord a greater surface areain a small space for evaporation than has heretofore been obtainable;which embodies improved means for directing the conditioned medium orair; in which the casing is constructed in a novel manner to permit itseasily being disassembled for cleaning, and to permit access to .theworking parts of vthe apparatus for inspection, replacement, repair, andthe like; and which is of compact design and inexpensive construction,yet highly efcient in operation.

It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that my novelrotor wheel with its increased evaporation area is useful as a separatearticle of manufacture, and may be incorapparatus for general andspecic'installations a, wide range without departing from the prin-fciples of this invention, and it therefore, not

the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise thannecessitated by the scope and spirit of the appended claim. "I claim asmy invention:

F'lugldfcon'riltioning'` apparatus comprising va. casingV defining upperand :lower portions separably connected together, the lower portionprovidlng areservor for a liquid and the upper porl -tion having aninlet and outlet opening for said uid, iluid circulating means in thecasing supported for removal with the upper portion of the casing,liquid pickfup and evaporator means rotatably supported on the lowerportion of the casing, and a detachable motion transmitting memberwithin the casing interconnecting the first means and second means. i yHAROLD WILLIAM SCHAEFER.

